Automatic locking clamp



E. G. UNGER AUTOMATIC LOCKING CLAMP Filed Fe6.12, 1925 INVENTOR Ernes? G. Tin/ 967 Patented Get. 9, 1923,

*U N Tnf ERNEST G. UNGER, NEWfZOR-K N. Y.,

ASSIGNOR To. KEEN vmv vs COMPANY,

I Annemarie LOC ING-enema Application filed. February The invention relates in general to atwo jaw clamp of general application, and herein disclosed to be of a recessed jaw type particu larly designed for clamping vor crushing, a stiff paper tubeinto closed position incidental to practicing the art of permanent hair waving The primary object oftheinvention is to provide a form of clamp which can be easily controlled and moved to and from its locking position by manipulationwith the fingers of onehand. ,7 i Differently expressedan object of the .invention-is to provide a simplified. form of clamp which will feature two jaws pivotally connected so that in the movement ofzthe jaws into clamping position they will be locked automatically against opening movement in '7 the opposite direction and willbeheld in look ing position until positively unlocked by an overt act on the part of'theoperator simply by shifting the finger to difierent part of theclamp'. All clamps of the type disclosed, employed in the permanent hair waving-art are dependent'upon the action of a sp'ring as part of the; locking mechanism. These springs quickly become rusty and the hot saline solutions employed inthe art tend to cake on the springs and other movable parts and seriously interfere with their ease of operation and of other life. 1

'- Accordingly another object of the invention is to 'provide'a form of locking mecha-' nism which will reduce the movable parts to a single element free of springsand other parts which might tend to collect the salts or other foreign matter. V 1

Various other objects and advantages of the inventioniwill be in part obvious from an inspection of the accompanying drawings andin part will be more fully set forth in the following particular description of one formv of deviceembodying-my. invention, and the invention also consists-in certain new and novel features of construction and combination; of parts hereinafter set-forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing:,

Figure l is a. viewin side elevation of 'a strand of a persons hair conta ned in a cop tube used in the art of permanent hairway:

ing and showing the end of the tube adjacent the persons head-closed by means of aclamp I Theinner end of the 12, 1925. s mi mam. r

constituting a preferred embodiment of the. nvention and shown in edge elevation;

FigureQ is an enlarged'transverse sectional I view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1 look.-

ing in the direction indicated by the arrow and showing the clamp" in side elevation Figures 3., 4 and 5 are detail views ofthe three Parts which imake up the planar Figure 3 being a viewofthevjaw whichlcarries the ratchet pin; Figure 4being' view of the co-acting aw which carries the ratchet and Figure 5 being a view'of the z'ratchet.

In the drawings and referring first to Figures l; and '2 there' s shown'a strand ofhair A coiled on a tube B ,andcontained with v I in aistift but crushablepaper tube .G all as is well known in the-art of permanenthair wavmg,

tube FC adjacent the 'persons head is closed by a clamp constitut- 'ing' the subject matterof this disclosure. 1

While the clan p isil-lustratedinits func tionxof crushing a paper tube about a spiral winding of hair on a curling rodlB, it is ob-' vious that the clamp may be'used as is usual with suchldevices to constituteashield engaging the hair strand closeto the scalpandbe-: tween the ga e and the adjacent endof-the l0 and 11," pivotally connected adj acent one wards each other to crush; the tube into engagement wlth the contained hair coil; as shown. in Figure 2; The ]ELW-V10 is providedv adjacent its freeedgeuwith an outstanding finger engaging part of ear 1% and on one side face with a laterally extending'ratchet pin 1-5. The co-acting j aw member 11 1 is offset,

from the'plane of'the jaw-1O so that the free end 17 ismovable in a plane parallel to and oifset'from the side of the jaw 10 opposite the sidefriom which the pinloprojects; In this past the free end ofthe jaw 10 and lap the' same as indicated in dottedlines inFigure 2.

tion to that of the jaw 11, extends parallel to the same HIlCl lS' dlSPOSQd scale. to lap y'- y 10o way'the free end 17 ofthe' jaw'll can move of thejaw from which projects theratchet pin 1 5. The forwardly projectingarm of the ratchet is provided on its underside with a rack 19 of teeth inclined towards the'pivotal axis or the pin 19. The rack is designed tobe fed across the pin and arranged so that one of the teeth forming the rack will be held bythe pin against an opening movement in an v anti-clockwisedirection. A laterally extending stop pin on the ratchet is designed to engage the outer edge 21 of the jaw 11 and thus'limit the movement of the ratchet into its locking position engaging the pin 15. I The outer edge of the ratchet 18 is provided'with an outstanding ear 22 positioned on the side ofthepivot 19 whichcontains the rack.

From this construction it will be understood that the'op'eratorsfingers' engaging the v outersides lofthe ears 14 and E22 .canpinch ,thesa'me towards each other with the thumb and finger fone'hand and thus move the aws towards'thelr closing position as shown This movementis assistedby the rearward V inlfigure 2. 'At the same time such moveinent' will swingthe rack into position to ride over the pinilo and cause the same to successively engage theteeth or .the'rack.

inclination of the rack teeth.

The opposite end of the ratchet is turned out of the general plane; ofthe same to pro" vide a laterally extendingfinger piece 23.

Thelfinger piece 23 laps the edge 21 of the,

jaw. '111a'nd actsvto limit the: opening movemerit. of theratchet in disengaging the'same fromits I locking connection with the pin 15. In operation andassuming that the jaws arein a wide open U-position theclamp can i be disposed-in position to encircle the tube C or any other object which it is intended to clasp such for instance as the hair strand .near the roots as was shown in connection witha diflerentform or, clipin my Patent No. 1,558 .951 October 27, 1925'. In this later Qcase the shield would be positioned inter-.

mediate the base of the lockof'hair and the adjacent end or the curler. Pressure on the F outstanding ears causes the jaws to move rela- 7 ratchet into its successive locking [position engaging'the pin 15.] Releasing the tension 4 l "By Shifting tive to'each other about their pivotal connection and into desired clamping position with any desired degree of tension. At the same time-the pressure on the'ear 22 willswing the on the ears willpermit 'the pi-n' to remain in position hooked byf th'e last tooth which passed'the same. 7

tlie'finger or'thumb into engagement with the finger piece 23' on the opposite side or the pivotal connection 19 the ratchet can beswung clear of itsengage- I ment withfthe pin 19 and the resiliency of the crushed'tube will react on the jaws to open .thefsame. Anyhow it is appreciatedthat the v jaws may be" otherwise opened and disengaged 'from the article clamped.

It is a feature of this disclosure thatthe parts can be made from simple stamping of sheer metal and the locking of the jaws is in no way dependent upon springs or other complicated formsof lock ng mechanism. In

'1. A clamp for crushing a paste board tube towards a closed positionfincluding a pair of aws pivotallyconnected and having their opposed inner-faces concaved to engage and crush opposite sides of the tube, a pin carried by one or the "jaws" and 'arat'chet pivotally connected to" the other jaw and having one of its edges defined by a rack of teeth adapted to be moved into engagement withthepin to secure the jaws in this tube crushing posi tron. 2. A clamp comprising a pair or' aws;

pi'votally connected, apinjcarried by one of the jaws, a ratchetpivote'd' to'the other jaw,

said ratchet provided on one'side of its pivot and along its inner edge with ratchet f'teeth for engaging with said pin, said ratchetprd vided on the same side of its pivot with an earv for simultaneously swinging theratchet teeth intoengagement with the pin and for moving the j aw carrying the ratchet towards the jaw carrying the pin.

; 3. A clamp comprising a pair of jaws the aws, a ratchet pivoted to the other jaw, said ratchet provided on one side of its pivot with ratchetteeth for engaging with said pin; said ratchet provided on the same side of its pivot with an ear forsimultaneously =swinging the ratchet teeth into engagement with the pin and for moving the aw carrying the ratchet towards the jaw carrying the pin, and means for limiting the movement of the ratchet towards the pin a I I a 4'. A clamp comprising a' pair ofjaws pivotally connected, a pin carried by one of the jaws, a ratchet pivoted to the other jaw, said ratchet provided on one side of'its pivot with ratchet teeth "for engaging with said pin, said ratchet provided on the same side of its pivot with an ear for simultaneously swinging the ratchet teeth intoengagement with the pin and for moving the jaw carrypivotally connected, a pin carried by one ofing the ratchet towards the jaw carrying the f pin and said ratchet provided on the other side of its pivot with a finger piece formov ing the ratchet teeth out of engagement with the pin.

5.1 A clamp comprising a pair of. jaws pivotallyconnected, a pin carried by one of the jaws, a ratchet pivoted to the other j aw,

said ratchet provided on one side of its pivot with ratchet teeth for engaging with said V pin, said ratchet provided on the same side of its pivot with an ear for simultaneously swinging the ratchet teeth into engagement with the-pin and for moving the jaw carrying the ratchet towards the jaw carrying the pin,

said ratchet provided on the other side of its pivot with a finger piece for moving the v ratchet teeth out of engagement with the pin, and said finger piece co-acting with its associated for limiting. the movement of the ratchet in disengagingitself from the pin.

6. In a clamp, the combination of a pair of jaws pivotally connected, one provided with an ear and with a pin, the other jaw having a ratchet pivotally mounted thereon and provided along one of its edges with ratchet teeth for engaging the pin tosecure the jaws, and a co-acting ear operatively connected to the ratchet whereby pressing the ears towards each other will close the aws and automatically move the ratchet into holding engagement with the pin.

7. In a device of the class described, the

combination ofa pair of members pivotally connected, a freely movable locking element pivoted intermediate its ends directly to one of the members and provided adjacent'one end with means adapted to engage the other member, and manually actuated means extending rigidly from said locking element in spaced relation to its ends, for swinging said locking element. g r g 7 8. In a clamp, the combination of a pair of jaws pivotally connected, one of said jaws provided with an ear and with one element of a j aw fastening means, the other aw having a coacting element of said fastening means pivotally mounted thereon and coacting with the first named element to secure the jaws in closed position, and a coacting ear forming part of said pivotally mounted element and disposed so that in pressing the ears towards each other the aws will close and thepivotal fastening means will be moved automatically I into operative position.

9. A clamp including a pair of pivotally connected jaws, one of which is provided with an outstanding ear constituting one of a pair of coactmg finger pieces, a lever pivoted to the other aw and provided with an outstanding I ear constituting the other finger piece of said coacting pair, said lever. and the first named j aw provided with a multiple position clamp for'se'curing the jaw in a plurality of closed positions.

j 10. A clamp including a 'pairof coacting jaws, apivot for connecting the same, a lever pivotally mounted on one of theaws for rotary movement about an axis of rotatlon fixed relative to said jaw and in spaced relation to said pivot, said lever provided with a 1 a tooth fixed relative to said aXisof rotation, and said other jaw provided -with means adapted to be engaged by said tooth when moved with the pivoted lever into engagement thereunto, said tooth and means coacting to secure'the aws in closed position.

pivotally connected jaws, means to lock said aws 1n gripping position and a pair of radial handle'members one connected to'one of the aws and the other connected to said locking v 5 11. A springless clip including a pair of.

means, said handles movable relative to each i other to release said locking means. i g

V 12. A clamp including a pair of pivotally connected jaws, and an arcuate tooth and- I ratchet connection between the jaws, said 0011-; r V nection including a manually actuated mem ber pivoted to one of the jaws and adapted to I said ratchet provided on'one side ofits pivot and along its inner edge with ratchetteeth for engaging with said pin, and means for.

swinging the ratchet to and from its position engaging the pin.

14. In a device of the class described, the

combination of a pair of jaws pivotally contnected, a progressively engaging v locking means for securing the jaws in a plurality of closed positions, sa d means including a lever treely swinging pivoted to one of the aws and provided with a finger piece constituting the sole means for swinging the same manually in one d rection into an inoperative position disconnected from the other aw and in the opposite direction into its succeeding operative positions engaging said other jaw.

Signed at New York inthe county of New York and State of New York this lOthday of.

February,A. D. 1925. i v v I C G. UNGER. 

